Poll: Jesus Was a Socialist Who Would Support Bernie Sanders

The scientific poll was created by the filmmaking team behind 'The Young Messiah,' based on an Anne Rice novel.

Jesus was apparently a socialist who would support Bernie Sanders for president.

At least those are the implications of a poll taken by those who are marketing the June 14 DVD release of The Young Messiah, based on an Anne Rice novel about Jesus as a child.

The scientific poll from Barna Group asked Americans whether capitalism or socialism align better with the teachings of Jesus, and socialism won 24 percent compared to 14 percent, with the rest answering “neither” or “not sure.”

When asked which presidential candidate’s policies aligned closest to the teachings of Jesus, Sanders was on top with 21 percent, compared to 9 percent for Hillary Clinton and 6 percent for Donald Trump.

Eleven percent answered Ted Cruz, an evangelical Christian who has dropped out of the race, while 22 percent weren’t sure and 37 percent said none of the candidates.

When broken down by various demographics, millennials were the group that most often compared socialism and Sanders to Jesus Christ, and college graduates, non-Christians and those who were never married weren’t far behind.

"Our film is not about politics nor was Jesus. But he is a fascinating and compelling historical character and people are always looking at him through the lens of their own experience and beliefs," said Cyrus Nowrasteh, the film’s director.

The Young Messiah, based on Rice’s book Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt, stars Sean Bean, Rory Keenan and Jonathan Bailey and was distributed domestically by Focus Features. Watch the trailer below and read The Hollywood Reporter's review here.